Most of the National Geographic Channel's lineup is one-offs, under various Strand names. We'll break out which titles in each Strand worked best. Looking at the top telecasts, is a better indicator, we feel, of what works best in prime for National Geographic, based on their lack of what one might call a steady schedule. Having said that, the series TABOO topped both lists in September : #1 series and 3 of the Top 10 telecasts. Series or Strands that bested the prime average: THRILL ZONE; DOG WHISPERER; NAKED SCIENCE; NGC SCI-TECH; INSIDE. Other than TABOO, top telecasts were: DOG WHISPERER; HOOKED! MONSTER FISH; LOCKDOWN: NEWBIES; SCI-TECH: MOONSHINE; INSIDE AL QUEDA.
SCHEDULING STRATEGIES:

Interesting statement on their website: "National Geographic Channel is the only place in the world where you can watch all our programs around the clock. Our specials on other channels are just that: specials."It's true that their daytime looks a lot like prime. That's happening on more than a few networks these days (main competitor Discovery, for one).

So the strategies are, somewhat needless to say, all over the map"¦"¦"¦that is to say, filled with one-offs, or anthology series or "Various". Thursday is more or less big, guy stuff or science. Friday is animals and pretty much all DOG WHISPERER at that., Saturday is now officially all WILD"¦but that's about all we can see.

PROGRAM/SCHEDULE CHANGES:

AUGUST - SEPTEMBER:

Nothing, nada, non, nyet"¦no changes in the schedule. Themes come and go, as always, and no night truly looks the same for the five weeks of this rating period. So for the most part, it's a PRESENTS or an INSIDE or something, though could also be "Various". It's a plan.

AND BEYOND:

Isolating every series change to "Various" would be a nightmare"¦but that's kinda how the schedule comes together. The essence of the Nat Geo strategy is to run a good deal of one-offs in or out of existing Strands. EXPLORER is a Wednesday 8pm fixture. TABOO pretty much stays Wednesday at 10pm. DOG WHISPERER owns all or at least 2/3 of Friday night.
Saturday at 8pm gets DANGEROUS ENCOUNTER WITH BRADY BARR. HUNTER AND HUNTED often in at 10pm.

Here are the one-offs and specials coming your way from Nat Geo Channel in the coming weeks:

Getting the push on the website lately: INSIDE THE LIVING BODY; SUPER STRENGTH; MEGA-STORMS; ZOMBIE ALLIGATORS.

YEAR AGO/BIG PICTURE:

National Geographic was flat in HH from last year, down in young men, but up in young women more than the down in men. 5 nights showed significant growth, if not across the board, then mostly so. Only Monday and Tuesday showed signs of wear.

Strands that were trackable from last year: NG PRESENTS, pretty much down, but it's so title dependant; EXPLORER is down across the board, but the chances of that going away are slim to none. But NAKED SCIENCE, THRILL ZONE, DOG WHISPERER and the WILD Strand are all up, THRILL ZONE in particular.

SEPTEMBER 2007 PRIMETIME RATINGS ANALYSIS:

Year-to-year was better than month-to-month: From August, Nat Geo was down in HH and men. Only Tuesday, Thursday and Friday showed any noticeable growth. Monday is now officially in trouble.

Monday - HH, men and women are all down. Second best night last month; this month, the lowest night in men; second lowest in HH and women. An NG PRESENTS worked great the first week (INSIDE THE GREEN BERETS; ROAD TO WAR: IRAQ; INSIDE AL QUEDA) and a DOG WHISPERER night did well. The three other nights of PRESENTS and/or BEHIND THE SCIENCE were about 50% off from the first two weeks, plenty in women and men.

Tuesday - Built in young men and older women. COLUMBINE; MONSTER CROC; SCIENCE OF OBESITY and BRAINCHILD were the best performers. BLACKHAWK DOWN, in particular, was way off the pack.

Wednesday - Young women and 25-54 men dropped; just about the strongest night of the week in men, anyway. Hilariously, there was one telecast that lifted the month: TABOO: NUDITY. Top tc of the entire month, too. The BODY MODICIFATION episode also scored big.

Friday - The young women came back to Cesar, the DOG WHISPERER: performance was up across the board from August. "¦.and the men came for THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE BRA. Nice lift for the night ;-)

Saturday - Young audience dropped. Young men liked ULTIMATE CAT, but didn't cuddle up to HYENAS AT WAR, COUGAR ISLAND, POLAR BEARS IN PERIL or REVENGE OF THE ELEPHANTS. Young women preferred ULTIMATE BEAR and JELLYFISH INVASION. ULTIMATE BEAR,;PREHISTORIC PREDATORS: BEAR; KODIAK ATTACK. The night of TRIBAL SECRETS did best overall. ULTIMATE HIPPO, an animal that has done well in the past here and on Animal Planet, did not deliver this time.

Sunday - Strongest night still, but off 20% in women and 44-50% in men. HH down as a result. As this night goes, it's premieres that generally do best. INSIDE THE LIVING BODY, double-popped September 16 (8pm and 10pm); cumed, it was 90% higher than anything else this month. It's first telecast was technically #1 in HH for September (though seemingly not credited); quite strong in men 25-54. Other good Sunday Specials: ULTIMATE TSUNAMI; LOCKDOWN: NEWBIES; ALASKA: DENALI NATIONAL PARK.